Well worth to go see, and very interesting during a visit to Malta are the Hagar Qim temples in the SW of the island. It is a well worked archaeological site, some of the features are copies and the originals can be found in the archaeological museum in Valetta.
I always try and get the ‘feel’ of the place when visiting an ancient site, but here I felt nothing special. The site is very close to the sea, and very windy . There is a lot to learn about these megalithic temples, the site consists of a group of monumental megalithic buildings dating back to the late Neolithic period around 5,000 years ago. As stated in a leaflet available at the visitor centre, there is little know about these buildings. I for one wonder why there were altars, what were they used for? Another question is whether the courts had corbelled roofs, which many think, it is suggested that they were made of successive rings of megaliths the way that the roof of the New-Grange passage grave was built back in Ireland. There must be a connection between all these ancient sites. It is so interesting, there is so much to learn about the past! We visited the Mnajdra Temples after this one, but that is for another blog write-up.
Two mushroom shaped altars, and the other a carved altar
On this slab on the photo to the right, the outline of two pairs of legs can be seen, belonging it seems to some obese figures it is thought, perhaps some goddesses?
agoyvaerts 
I believe that all altars are used for offering sacrifice as they are today.
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Yes I think you could be right, I need to read up a bit on this. Thanks Mary.
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Hello,
for anywoman or man wanting to know more about the meaning of the temples in Malta and their artefacts, it’s interesting to read Veronica Veen’s (Dutch Archeologist/Anthropologist) books e.g. “Goddess, Giantess, Farmeress: Female Images of Malta” published 1994 and “The Goddess of Malta; the Lady of the Waters and the Earth”, by Veronica Veen, Valletta (Inanna/FIA) 1992. Both have been very enlightening for me, visiting the Maltese Islands many times since 1990. This is to greet you gaiainaction, and to thank you for your photos of several of these wonderful flowers and plants that I hadn’t noticed yet on Gozo.
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Thanks for those two recommendations, I for one am at present reading the Chalice and the Blade by Riane Eisler, it is very interesting and similar subject matter. I will have a look out for Veronica Veen’s books, can read them in Dutch also, but I see they are also translated. Should be interesting, thanks for the tip.
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Very interesting place!
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Yes indeed.
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Have you any idea which language is written alongside the English on the signs? It seems to be transliteration of Arabic, going on a couple of words I recognise, but as a linguist I’m always curious about these things.
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Glad you brought up the subject Helen. Here the people, though they all know English too, speak Malti, this is a language that was originally derived from Arabic, well spotted! I love the sound of it, it does sound Arabic when you hear the people speak, when I listen to the fisher folk it is still a little different from when I heard it in the church the other day, but that is normal variation in dialect I guess. Read up on it as I cannot explain all of it, it is quite interesting. I’d love to learn a few words myself.
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Thank you, Agnes! You must have a good ear if you can hear the difference between accents, even after just a few days.
Anyway, I will certainly look into Malti.
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Yes Helen, the difference was very noticeable, 🙂 I do have good observation for language, for sounds, I’m Flemish.
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Do Belgians have good language skills in general – or were you referring to the fact that you’ve mastered English (ie focuses on the sound system of a second language)?
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It’s a good question Helen, I have always thought that Flemish is a language that makes picking up other languages easily, it’s a Germanic language so English and German come very easy to us, but apparently so do other languages, at least that is what I have always believed.
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I was interesting in reading the Flemish around me in Bruges at Christmas time. I found it quite easy to decipher because it seemed a blend of German and French (both of which I speak). If this is the case, it would give Flemish speakers a linguistic advantage.
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Yes, I think you are right Helen, and of course Dutch is the same as Flemish, only there would be different expressions and dialects in Holland, but written it is the same. How did you like Bruges?
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I liked Bruges a lot. I didn’t see much in reality, although I wasn’t personally interested in the sights so much as getting a feel for the place, the people and the language.
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Exactly what I do too and enjoy, getting the feel for a place, the people and their culture.
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that’s an interesting place and doesn’t resemble to anything I have seen before, dear Agnes. Thanks for sharing your wonderful trip to Malta with us. Kind regards Mitza
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You are very welcome Mitza, I’m surprised myself how interesting a place this is 🙂
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Reblogged this on agoyvaerts and commented:
Revisiting one of my earlier blogs while we stayed in Malta.
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How fascinating! It must be amazing to have ancient ruins in your country.
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Thank you Julia, we are not in Malta anymore. We are living in S.W.Ireland where there are also some ancient ruins, but they are many hours away from us.
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Maybe you can plan a special trip to see them, if you’re interested.
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Yes Julia that’s a very good idea!
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